National News

It's Over: House Passes Senate-Backed Deal

(NEWSER) – Federal workers, prepare to rejoin the morning commute. The Senate tonight passed its bill to end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling by a vote of 81-18, the AP reports; the House backed the bill 285-144, just hours before the Treasury would have lost its authority to borrow money. Eighty-seven House Republicans voted in favor of the measure, along with all their Democratic colleagues, NBC News reports. Success became clear in the late afternoon, when John Boehner packed it in and said House Republicans wouldn't try to block the Senate measure. The deal ends the 16-day shutdown and raises the debt ceiling through the first week of February, CNN notes.

Some reactions:

President Obama: After the Senate vote, he promised to sign the bill "immediately"—and did so at 12:30am, the New York Times reports. He added that "we've got to get out of the habit of governing by crisis," reportsBusiness Insider.

Ted Cruz: "This is a terrible deal," he said from the Senate floor, as quoted by the Washington Post. “Unfortunately today, the United States Senate is saying (to ObamaCare opponents), 'You don’t have a voice in Washington." Cruz, however, said he was inspired by the number of Americans "rising up" against the health law.